I have a rattling head pipe on my 240 (Support bracket rusted out). I took it to an independent shop here in town for an estimate. (Sorry...It was weak moment and I just didn't feel like dealing with it)

They informed me that I needed a new head pipe. No suprise there. They then informed me that I needed a new catalytic converter too. I said "huh?" They said there was a lot of rust and were worried that they couldn't seperate it from the head pipe. I said "huh?" I asked how much for the cat? They said $600. I said "huh?" After running them up and down they said that they just get the cat from the dealer (and in turn pass the ridiculous price to me). I said "no thanks...I'll come get my car." They said "huh?" :-)

Upon getting the car home I crawled under there. The cat looks in good shape. The only thing that is seriously rusted are the bolts attaching the cat to the head pipe. I ordered the head pipe, bolts, bracket, gaskets, and will do the job myself. I will cut the rusted bolts and put on new ones.

Am I missing something? These guys have always been honest and have had ample opportunity to rip me off on things that are impossible to check. So what's going on here. Maybe in Texas rusted bolts are scary? I dunno. Maybe it is better form to replace the cat and head pipe together? But I can get an aftermarket cat for ~$200! - probably less! No way I was gonna pay almost $1000 for this work.

-Ted

Well...Got under the car today and got everything apart. Sure I enough I cannot get the bolts out of the cat. I tried heat, physical force, verbal threats, etc. So looks like the shop was right.

However, there is no need to spend $650 bucks for a cat. I can get a cat + the headpipe (Volvo OE) I already have and could even throw in the whole rest of the exhaust system for less than that.

-Ted

Obviously those guys had not worked on the pipeline. Rusted bolts don't
bother pipeliners at all. They either twist them off or use the 'smoke wrench'
(oxyacetylene type) and get 'em off no problem.

Ya dun right!
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George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US

Installed a Bosal downpipe on my 90 240 in March. Several online vendor spec. pages gave a vehicle serial number range for each of two available parts. Downpipe showed up with welded flanges at both ends, which matched the cat. converter.
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Fit-up was very good, including the bell-housing bracket, except the flange welds at the manifold end encroached on the area for the new copper nuts. Used a lock washer as a spacer, and it cinched up just fine; no leaks. Make sure you seal or stake the plug into the O2 sensor port, if not used. Otherwise, you may lose it, and it's a non-standard plug (hard to replace).
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The bad news: After a few weeks I noticed the S-pipe on the outlet of the rear muffler was pulled forward and had contacted & melted the plastic fairing. On closer inspection, I found both rear muffler hangers stretched forward by an inch or more. Failed to see this when cinching up the new downpipe to the cat converter flange. Sure enough, the overall length of the old head pipe was an inch longer than the Bosal part.
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I've ordered a cat-back system since the resonator-to-muffler pipe has now eroded through (at the elbow, of course, on a car driven <5 miles to school). I'll have a local shop add the length back into the rear pipe.
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Check the length on your new downpipe before the install.
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Jim (90 244DL 170K miles) turbo sways w/poly, front struts & bushings, OD wiring

Ummm...

Yeah. That was a good call to go get your car and avoid a severe re-arranging of your wallet for some simple work. My head pipe was similarly finished last fall with the cat in not-so-good shape either. Head pipe was 140, a new FlowMaster high flow cat was 180, plus 20 bucks worth of welding at the local muffler shop and I was on my way.

BTW - those are Canadian $$$ and I just zinged thru my emissions test with great numbers.

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Happy Bricking!!! - Richard - '87 245 DL , '82 242 GLT - Half a million km between them!!!

Even in Canadian dollars $140 for ONE PIPE sounds like an awful lot!
I'm looking at $45 or so for a headpipe (2 into one) for my 145E, and
even at that am less than eager.
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George Downs, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Central US